Author's Note: This is a part-condensation, part-rewriting of my original 'Full Moon' story. As such, this is - and remains - a very definite work-in-progress. With some luck, I might actually get around to finishing it this time around.

Full Moon

DISCLAIMER: This is a work of (fan)fiction. Any resemblances of characters, places, organisations, and events to those in the real-world are purely coincidental.

Chapter ONE - Brave New World

"Humans don't advance that much over time. It's almost at their limit to keep them from sliding backwards."
– Eirin Yagokoro

Location unknown
Date unknown

'Where... am I?'

Peach trees surrounded her. Thousands of them, densely packed into thickets and hedgerows like a floral labyrinth. Each bore at least a dozen heart-shpaed fruit, fat and luscious, bursting with shine and energy. The whole forest seemed to consist of nothing but peach.

The ground was flat, coated in ankle-high grass that was smooth and moist to the touch.

For Maribel Hearn, however, this was where her comprehension faltered.

MARIBEL HEARN
FOREIGN FANTASY FANATIC

Above her, the sun shone against a dark canvas of shimmering stars. Yet, the forest seemed to be illuminated only by a haze of violet gloom, blurring the boundaries between shadow and light. The air was neither hot nor cold, and smelled of nothing.

And yet... all of this feels... familiar...

There was no wind, and no birdsong. Not even the rustling of leaves. No animals either. The trees and their branches were completely still. The whole forest seemed to hang in suspended animation, with everything apparently frozen in deathly silence. Only when Maribel took a single, nervous step forward did she hear the muffled clump of her boots on the soft forest floor. In comparison to the tranquil scene around her, the sound was almost deafening.

Have I... been here before...?

She ventured deeper. More trees, more featureless mass. The whole forest exuded a soothing atmosphere in its pristine state, but was also unsettling in its perfection. Her senses were awash with the wondrous visage of this strange place, while her primal instincts told her that something was very wrong. The disconnect had made her tipsy, as if in a daze. Yet, Maribel felt compelled to push further into the depths of the peach forest.

It was as if something - or someone - was drawing her in.

'Oh my, a human?' a voice sounded. But from where?

Maribel froze, the sudden surprise immediately snapping her out of her stupour. Instinctively, her eyes darted left and right, up and down, and her ears strained for the source of the noise.

'H-hello?' she ventured meekly. 'Who's there?'

'That is my question to you, child.' There it was again, unmistakably feminine. Maribel was reminded of a soothing, gentle melody, not unlike the musical notes of a harp. Yet, there was also a flanging quality to it that betrayed its inhuman nature, like voices of different pitches all speaking at once. 'Your presence is most unexpected.'

Maribel gulped and started to shake. 'I... I'm sorry if I'm intruding o-or anything...' she stammered. She could feel her legs becoming weak. Her mind swung like a pendulum between conflicting feelings of excitement, wonder, and the primal human fear of that which is unknown and unseen. 'I-I... Oh gosh...'

The distorted voice chuckled. 'You would seem to be lost, young one. Perhaps I can be of assistance to you...'

A figure emerged into view, seemingly from nowhere.

It was the most beautiful creature Maribel had ever seen. The alien stood seven feet tall with flowing gold hair and startling eyes to match. She swore a regal blue dress over a white, frilly blouse that nicely accented her lithe, slender body. A matching bonnet with a scarlet ribbon completed the picture of a pure, innocent being. Her skin was pale and without blemish, adding to her elegant demeanour and perfect radiance.

But for all of that, there was something utterly inhuman about her that Maribel found as repulsive as it was alluring. The way she moved with such unsettling grace and precision, and how her warm, enchanting smile soothed her as much as her instincts told her something was very, very wrong indeed.

'Greetings, human,' the ethereal figure said in that wonderful, eerie voice, in perfect Japanese of the type and mannerisms used by the old Imperial family. 'I am Princess Watatsuki no Toyohime of the Great Lunarian Hierarchy. And you are...?'

Maribel stared dumbly for a moment, before it finally registered that the alien princess was actually talking to her.

'What? Oh!' she coughed out clumsily. Her heart sank at the thought of having already bungled her first impression in front of an enlightened inhabitant of the Moon - and a princess at that, no less!

The Moon! her mind raced. The True Moon! I made it, finally, after all of these years! Oh my, all of my yes!

Buckling under the pressure, Maribel blurted out her next words faster than her brain could arrange them into coherent sentences. 'W-well, I... I am Maribel Hearn... Kyoto University... Relative Psychology major... I have so many questions... Oh... golly...'

Toyohime giggled softly for a moment. For some reason, it sent a chill up Maribel's spine, only for it to be washed away when the Lunar princess offered another comforting smile.

'Be at peace, Maribel Hearn.' she said, stepping in close. Her scent was... bizarre. It was unlike anything Maribel had experienced before. 'We Lunarians know how to take care of our guests. But I also sense great fear in you. You must be anxious to return home. You need not fear. I will return you to your Earth. This is a dream...'

She ran her long, slender fingers down Maribel's cheek, moving slowly to cradle her chin. Their eyes met. The young prodigy jumped back with a yelp, blushing in surprise. The alien was smooth and warm to the touch, and her wide, golden eyes were as enrapturing as they were... well, alien.

Toyohime frowned. 'Why do you resist? This is a necessary part of the process to return you to your Earth.'

'A-and I'm grateful for your concern...' Maribel said awkwardly, tapping her index fingers together like a nervous highschoolder. 'But first, umm... If I could ask you just one question, Your Princessness...?'

'Speak.'

'What if... I choose to stay?'

Princess Toyohime's eyes narrowed. Suddenly, the air began to feel heavy.

'... Are you sure?' she asked, her voice dropping ominously in pitch.

'Yes.' Breathing deeply, Maribel affirmed her answer with a nod. 'The Earth is in a state of disorder. Peace and progress have long ago given way to war, famine, and disunity. I am tired of having Soylent Green and artificial fruit for every meal. Not even the children smile, because there are so few left to do so. There is nothing left for me on the Earth now.'

'Is that right...?'

'I have learned of the True Moon. I have seen your beautiful society, and I wish to be one of you. Please!'

Toyohime fixed her with a long, hard stare. Time itself seemed to stop. Maribel felt her own gaze falter, but she was determined. She had come all of this way, and her chance to leave behind the wicked Earth, to find a better life on the enlightened Moon that she had seen in her visions, had finally come. There was no going back.

Perhaps Maribel's only regret was that her only friend - Renko Usami - would not be coming with her, to share in this joy. However, the more Maribel thought about it, the more she became convinced that abandoning Renko was a small price to pay for the promise of eternal peace.

Suddenly, Toyohime broke into a smile, and laughed. It was a delightful, hearty chuckle that seemed to echo through all of space, setting the hairs on Maribel's skin on edge.

'Oh, this is wonderful!' Toyohime said. 'Well, if you wish to spend eternity here as an honoured guest of our Great Lunar Hierarchy, then allow me to be the first to welcome you!'

Maribel's eyes lit up, like a small child given the keys to the world. 'Really? You mean it?'

'Of course!' the Lunar Princess replied, snapping her fingers.

Suddenly, leaping creatures pounced from the shrubbery. There were three of them, each standing about the height of a small child, with long, furry ears and a bushy tails. Their lean, slender bodies were immaculately dressed in purple suits and silver miniskirts, and carried what looked like small wooden rifles.

But this did little to hide their animal nature. The little beasts were quickfooted and inhumanly fast, darting around on curved legs jointed the wrong way below the knees. Like rabbits.

They were Moon Rabbits. Of course! Maribel had seen them too in her visions of Lunarian civilisation, pounding mochi and performing other similarly fulfilling tasks.

A second later, she felt them too. Springing from deceptively strong, muscular legs, the leading rabbit plunged into Maribel's stomach. She staggered back and fell with a gasp as the air was knocked from her lungs. She raised her arms to protect her head, only for them to be quickly seized by the other two rabbits. She writhed and twisted with all the strength her body could muster... but it was useless. The giggling fiends knew their work, and pinned her down with their combined bodyweights.

'Wha... What are you doing?!' Maribel yelped. 'Answer me, Princess Toyohime!'

Staring down at her interloper, Toyohime's face twisted with venomous, daemonic hatred. It was as if all the fury in the cosmos had been channelled and focused solely on Maribel Hearn.

'You wish to spend eternity on our Moon?' Toyohime roared, all semblance of calm and civility long gone. 'You, an Earthbound, dare demand that of us?! Then we shall oblige you - you will spend an eternity here, in a prison!'

'You said I was an honoured guest!' Maribel wailed, still clinging desperately to her hope of finding a better future on the Moon. A hope that was very rapidly fading before her eyes. 'You said it, I heard you say it! You promised!'

It really was the wrong thing to say.

'Oh you sad, foolish human.' Toyohime's grimace twisted into a cruel, almost sadistic smile. The mere sight of it caused Maribel to lose control of her bowels. 'You should have known that there are no honoured guests in our Great Lunarian Hierarchy. We do not need you wretched Earthbounds, and we do not want you.'

'B-but I...' Maribel was sobbing now. 'I... just wanted to... peace...'

'I care not what your motivations are. Our people have prospered in splendid isolation long before your gibbering ancestors dragged their impure bodies from your foetid oceans aeons ago. It is my duty, as a humble servant of Lord Tsukuyomi, to ensure that it stays that way, always and forever!'

'... No. No! Let me go, please!' Maribel squealed. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, and a foul smell wafted through the air. 'This is a misunderstanding! It wasn't supposed to be like this! Let me go! Let me g-'

She was abruptly silenced when a rifle butt slammed into her forehead. The young adventurer went limp and stilled, like a puppet with its strings cut.

The last thing Maribel heard before passing out was the ringing in her ears, and the baying of the whooping rabbits.

'Clean up that mess, and then bring her.' Toyohime's voice echoed. 'She knows too much to be let free. We have just the place for her sort...'

TO BE CONTINUED...

Author's Notes:
▪ This story has been sitting on my backlog for some time. Hopefully, this time, I'll actually get around to finishing the job. Until then, this obviously remains a work in progress.
▪ Although Gensokyo is plenty of fun as it is, i feel that both the Moon and the Outside World as shown in ZUN's music CD's have plenty of plot potential.